Patent Application
20240022611
The subject matter disclosed herein generally relates to methods, systems, and machine-readable storage media for providing cross-application communication using internal communication legs.
Current communication systems provide cross-application (e.g., application-to-application) communications using chaining of phone numbers during a communication session. Using multiple phone numbers in a single communication session may cause unintended charges and confusion, negatively affecting user experience. In addition, exposing internal phone numbers to users may cause various issues, including security risks.
In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numerals may describe similar components in different views. Like numerals having different letter suffixes may represent different instances of similar components. Some embodiments are illustrated by way of example, and not limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which:
The description that follows includes systems, methods, techniques, instruction sequences, and computing machine program products that embody illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of example embodiments. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the present inventive subject matter may be practiced without these specific details.
Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present subject matter. Thus, the appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” appearing in various places throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.
For purposes of explanation, specific configurations and details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present subject matter. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that embodiments of the subject matter described may be practiced without the specific details presented herein, or in various combinations, as described herein. Furthermore, well-known features may be omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the described embodiments. Various examples may be given throughout this description. These are merely descriptions of specific embodiments. The scope or meaning of the claims is not limited to the examples given.
Various embodiments include systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media for providing cross-application communication using internal communication legs. The system and method can be used in a variety of media communication use-cases. For example, the system and method can be used in connection with multi-party communication. More specifically, the system and method are used with a multi-party video chat or call communication session.
In various embodiments, the cross-application communication system detects an incoming call (e.g., a call) that invokes an application (e.g., the first application) in a communication session. An incoming call may be a Publication Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) call from a client device to a phone number associated with an account on the cloud-based communication platform 106. The phone number may be configured (e.g., by an owner of the account) to handle the incoming call by executing instructions associated with the first application.
In various embodiments, the cross-application communication system detects an indication that a second application is to be invoked by the first application in the communication session. For example, the indication may include an indication of a generation of an outgoing call by the first application (e.g., via an API provided by the cross-application communication system 110) that invokes another application (e.g., the second application).
In various embodiments, in response to the indication, the cross-application communication system generates an outgoing internal communication leg to handle the invocation of the second application (e.g., in lieu of an outgoing PSTN call from a phone number configured to execute instructions associated with the first application to a phone number that is configured to execute instructions associated with the second application). An internal communication leg (e.g., internal call leg) may refer to a segment in a communication session (e.g., a call) that is handled internally by the cloud-based communication platform 106 (e.g., without making a separate PSTN call). For example, An outgoing (or outbound) internal communication leg may be generated (e.g., based on the API call) to invoke an application provided by a third party (e.g., third-party application provider 126) without making a PSTN call to a phone number associated with the cloud-based communication platform 106 (and owned by the third party) that is configured to execute instructions corresponding to the second application. An incoming (or inbound) internal communication leg may be generated (e.g., based on an additional API call) to handle the outgoing internal communication leg (e.g., by executing code associated with the application). In various embodiments, the API call for generating the internal outgoing leg is controlled by the owner of the first application, and the owner controls the API for generating the incoming internal leg. Thus, for example, the incoming internal leg may be optionally generated to handle the outgoing internal leg based on various criteria, such as cost criteria, of the owner of the second application.
In various embodiments, internal communication legs can be priced and managed differently compared to a regular call, such as a PSTN call initiated by a customer (or an account associated with the customer) to invoke a subsequent application. Further, unlike chaining of PSTN calls, such internal communication legs may allow parameter passing between applications. A parameter may include data collected by a first application, such as data collected from a caller based on conversations with agents, the caller's responses to the system-generated questions, including customer information (e.g., name, address), agent identifier, reasons for calling, and associated information a post-call survey, and so on. Under this approach, context may be passed between applications to improve service experience. For example, when the system takes a customer to the next stage of the call by invoking another application, the invoked application will have the relevant information (e.g., call context represented by one or more parameters) that the prior application has collected for the customer. This way, the subsequent application can provide the service based on the parameters without requiring the customer to provide the information already made available to the first application. In various embodiments, parameters can be represented by HTTP headers or SIP headers.
In various embodiments, the cross-application communication system identifies that a parameter associated with call context is generated during execution of the first application.
In various embodiments, the cross-application communication system passes the parameter to the second application via the outgoing internal communication leg. In various embodiments, the first application may be an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) application. The subsequent application invoked by the first application may be a call center application, such as an application provided by the communication service provider 104, as illustrated in
In various embodiments, a second outgoing internal leg may be generated (e.g., based on an API call made from the second application) (e.g., to return a value from the second application to the first application). In turn, the first application a second incoming internal leg may be generated based on an API call made from the first application to receive the return value. Thus, both the first application and the second application may each be responsible for generating one or more incoming internal legs or outgoing internal legs to handle cross-application communications.
In various embodiments, the return value is associated with a post-call survey or a user's response associated with the post-call survey.
In various embodiments, the cross-application communication system determines that the incoming call is initiated by a customer for the communication session. The cross-application communication system generates a communication flow to associate the first application with the second application. The communication flow at least includes the outgoing internal communication leg. For example, suppose a customer develops one application for their sales phone number and another application for their customer support phone number. The customer may use the communication flow to allow a single phone number that routes to either use case without re-architecting these two applications.
In various embodiments, upon generating the communication flow for the customer, the cross-application communication system generates an account identifier to be associated with both the first application and second application and provides the account identifier to the customer.
In various embodiments, the communication flow can be configured via an Application Programming Interface (API). The internal communication legs also can be configured using an API.
In various embodiments, associating the first application with the second application is not handled using chaining of phone numbers. In various embodiments, the second application is a third-party application. In various embodiments, the incoming call is a PSTN call.
In various embodiments, the first application is associated with a first user account of a customer, and the second application is associated with a second user account of the customer.
In various embodiments, the first application is associated with a first application server in a first geographical region. The second application is associated with a second application server in a second geographical region.
Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein.
In various embodiments, internal communication legs can be used for cross-accounts communication. For example, a service provider (not shown) hosts applications 118 for customers in the service provider's platform or system. A customer may want to tie an account associated with the communication platform 106 with an account associated with the service provider.
In various embodiments, internal communication legs can further be used for cross-region communication. Specifically, a customer with an application in a first geographical region may want to call a device registered to a second geographical region application.
The networked environment 100 as illustrated in
In various embodiments, a communications service provider 104 provides call center services to facilitate voice and data communications between users of client devices 102 and agents 122. The communications service provider 104 may provide one or more applications associated with the call center services. In various embodiments, the communication service provider 104 may be a service (or a component) residing within the cloud-based communication platform 106. Agents 122 may work for a plurality of companies that use the services of the communications service provider 104. The users of client devices 102 may request to establish communications, such as audio calls, video calls, Short Message Service (SMS) messages, and messenger messages (e.g., Whatsapp Messenger messages, or Facebook Messenger messages, etc.), to communicate with the agents 122, such as for requesting support for a product or service. The users of client devices 102 and agents 122 communicate with the communications service provider 104 via direct connections or a communication network 112, such as the Internet or a private network connection.
In various embodiments, the communication service provider 104 may be external to the cloud-based communication platform 106.
In various embodiments, when a user of a client device 102 requests a communication, such as a video or voice (e.g., audio), SMS messages, or messenger messages (e.g., Whatsapp or Facebook messenger messages) communication, with a company, the associated communications service provider of the communications service provider(s) 104, via a communication router (not shown), routes the video or voice communications to an agent 122 from that company. In various embodiments, when an agent 122 initiates the call, a conversation manager 124, residing in the cloud-based communication platform 106, routes the call to the user of the client device 102. During a conversation, the conversation manager 124 records the conversations in a conversations database (not shown) of the communications service provider 104.
Additionally, the communications service provider 104 includes a video processor (not shown) that processes video calls, a voice processor (not shown) that processes voice calls (e.g., audio calls).
The conversation manager 124 manages the conversations, such as establishing, monitoring, and terminating conversations and managing the storage of conversation data when requested by a user of a client device 102. The user (or customer) may use the conversation data to manage, monitor, and improve operations, such as to monitor for compliance by an agent or to determine when a follow-up call is requested to further a sales process.
The communication network 112 is any type of network, including a local area network (LAN), such as an intranet, a wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet, a telephone, and a mobile device network, such as a cellular network, or any combination thereof. Further, the communication network 112 may be a public network, a private network, or a combination thereof. The communication network 112 is implemented using any number of communication links associated with one or more service providers, including one or more wired communication links, one or more wireless communication links, or any combination thereof. Additionally, the communication network 112 is configured to support the transmission of data formatted using any number of protocols.
Client devices 102 can be connected to the communication network 112. A client device is any type of general computing device capable of network communication with other computing devices. For example, a client device can be a personal computing device such as a desktop or workstation, a business server, or a portable computing device, such as a laptop, smartphone, or a tablet personal computer. A client device can include some or all of the features, components, and peripherals of the machine 700 shown in
To facilitate communication with other computing devices, a client device 102 includes a communication interface configured to receive a communication, such as a request, data, and the like, from another computing device in network communication with the computing device and pass the communication along to an appropriate module running on the client device. The communication interface also sends a communication to another client device in network communication with the client device.
A user interacts with the communication service provider 104 via a client-side application 114 installed on the client device 102. In some embodiments, the client-side application 114 includes a component specific to the communication service provider 104. For example, the component may be a stand-alone application, one or more application plug-ins, and/or a browser extension. However, the users may also interact with the communication service provider 104 via a third-party application, such as a web browser or messaging application, that resides on the client devices 102 and is configured to communicate with the communication service provider 104. In either case, the client-side application presents a user interface (UI) for the user to interact with the communication service provider 104. For example, the user interacts with the communication service provider 104 via a client-side application integrated with the file system or via a webpage displayed using a web browser application.
A user may also interact with communication platform 106 via the client-side application 114 installed on the client devices 102. In some embodiments, the client-side application includes a component specific to the communication platform 106. For example, the component may be a stand-alone application, one or more application plug-ins, and/or a browser extension. In various embodiments, the user may also interact with the communication platform 106 via console interface provided by the communication platform 106, such as a web browser or messaging application configured to communicate with the communication platform 106. In either case, the client-side application presents a user interface for the user to interact with the communication platform 106.
In various embodiments, a user may interact with the cross-application communication system 110 via the user interface provided by the cloud-based communication platform 106. In various embodiments, a user (or a customer) may interact with the cross-application communication system 110 via an API interface or a console interface provided by the communication platform 106.
The incoming call detecting component 210 is configured to detect an incoming call (e.g., a call) that invokes an application (e.g., the first application) in a communication session. An incoming call may be a Publication Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) call. In various embodiments, an outgoing call generated by an application, based on which an outgoing internal communication leg is generated, can be a PSTN call resulting from PSTN internal routing.
The cross-application invocation detecting component 220 is configured to detect an incoming call (e.g., a call) that invokes an application (e.g., the first application) in a communication session. The cross-application invocation detecting component 220 is further configured to detect an indication that a second application is to be invoked by the first application in the communication session. For example, the indication may include an indication of a generation of an outgoing call by the first application that invokes another application (e.g., the second application).
The internal communication leg generating component 230 is configured to generate an outgoing internal communication leg to handle the invocation of the second application (e.g., in lieu of an outgoing PSTN call from a phone number configured to execute instructions associated with the first application to a phone number that is configured to execute instructions associated with the second application). An internal communication leg (e.g., internal call leg) may refer to a segment in a communication session (e.g., a call) that is handled internally by the cloud-based communication platform 106 (e.g., without making a separate PSTN call). For example, An outgoing (or outbound) internal communication leg may be generated (e.g., based on the API call) to invoke an application provided by a third party (e.g., third-party application provider 126) without making a PSTN call to a phone number associated with the cloud-based communication platform 106 (and owned by the third party) that is configured to execute instructions corresponding to the second application. An incoming (or inbound) internal communication leg may be generated (e.g., based on an additional API call) to handle the outgoing internal communication leg (e.g., by executing code associated with the application). In various embodiments, the API call for generating the internal outgoing leg is controlled by the owner of the first application, and the owner controls the API for generating the incoming internal leg. Thus, for example, the incoming internal leg may be optionally generated to handle the outgoing internal leg based on various criteria, such as cost criteria, of the owner of the second application.
The parameter identifying component 240 is configured to identify that a parameter associated with call context is generated during execution of the first application. A parameter may be data collected from a caller based on conversations with agents or caller's responses to the system-generated questions, including customer information (e.g., name, address), agent identifier, reasons for calling, and information associated with a post-call survey.
The parameter passing component 250 is configured to pass the parameter to the second application via the outgoing internal communication leg. In various embodiments, the first application may be an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) application. The subsequent application invoked by the first application may be a call center application, such as an application provided by the communication service provider 104, as illustrated in
The communication flow generating component 260 is configured to generate a second incoming call to invoke the second application. In such a scenario, the cross-application communication system generates a second incoming internal communication leg based on the second incoming call and allows the second incoming internal communication leg to handle the invocation of the second application.
At operation 302, the processor detects an incoming call (e.g., a call) that invokes an application (e.g., the first application) in a communication session. An incoming call may be a Publication Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) call.
At operation 304, the processor detects an indication that a second application is to be invoked by the first application in the communication session. For example, the indication may include an indication of a generation of an outgoing call by the first application that invokes another application (e.g., the second application).
At operation 306, the processor generates an outgoing internal communication leg to handle the invocation of the second application. A communication leg (e.g., call leg) may refer to a segment in a communication session (e.g., a call). For example, an incoming (or inbound) communication leg is generated when an incoming call comes into a router or a gateway. An outgoing (or outbound) communication leg is generated when a call is placed from the router or the gateway. In various embodiments, internal communication legs can be priced and managed differently from a regular call, such as an incoming PSTN call initiated by a customer to invoke the first application. Further, internal communication legs allow parameter passing between applications. A parameter may be data collected from a caller based on conversations with agents or caller's responses to the system-generated questions, including customer information (e.g., name, address), agent identifier, reasons for calling, and information associated with a post-call survey. Under this approach, context may be passed between applications to improve service experience. For example, when the system takes a customer to the next stage of the call by invoking another application, the subsequent application will have the relevant information (e.g., call context represented by one or more parameters) that the prior application has collected for the customer. This way, the subsequent application can provide the service based on the parameters without requiring the customer to provide the information already made available to the first application.
At operation 308, the processor identifies that a parameter associated with call context is generated during the execution of the first application.
At operation 310, the processor passes the parameter to the second application via the outgoing internal communication leg. In various embodiments, the first application may be an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) application. The subsequent application invoked by the first application may be a call center application, such as an application provided by the communication service provider 104, as illustrated in
Though not illustrated, method 300 can include an operation where a graphical user interface for providing cross-application communication using internal communication legs can be displayed (or caused to be displayed) by the hardware processor. For instance, the operation can cause a client device (e.g., the client device 102 communicatively coupled to the cross-application communication system 110) to display the graphical user interface for providing cross-application communication. This operation for displaying the graphical user interface can be separate from operations 302 through 312 or, alternatively, form part of one or more of operations 302 through 312. In example embodiments, the graphical user interface may be caused to be generated and presented (e.g., on client device 102).
At operation 402, the processor determines that the incoming call is initiated by a customer for the communication session.
At operation 404, the processor generates a communication flow to associate the first application with the second application. The communication flow at least includes the outgoing internal communication leg. For example, suppose a customer develops one application for their sales phone number and another application for their customer support phone number. The customer may use the communication flow to allow a single phone number that routes to either use case without re-architecting these two applications.
At operation 406, upon generating the communication flow for the customer, the processor generates an account identifier to be associated with both the first application and second application and provides the account identifier to the customer.
Though not illustrated, method 400 can include an operation where a graphical user interface for providing cross-application communication using internal communication legs can be displayed (or caused to be displayed) by the hardware processor. For instance, the operation can cause a client device (e.g., the client device 102 communicatively coupled to the cross-application communication system 110) to display the graphical user interface for providing cross-application communication. This operation for displaying the graphical user interface can be separate from operations 402 through 406 or, alternatively, form part of one or more of operations 402 through 406. In example embodiments, the graphical user interface may be caused to be generated and presented (e.g., on client device 102).
In various implementations, the operating system 604 manages hardware resources and provides common services. The operating system 604 includes, for example, a kernel 616, services 618, and drivers 620. The kernel 616 acts as an abstraction layer between the hardware and the other software layers, consistent with some embodiments. For example, the kernel 616 provides memory management, processor management (e.g., scheduling), component management, networking, and security settings, among other functionalities. The services 618 can provide other common services for the other software layers. The drivers 620 are responsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlying hardware, according to some embodiments. For instance, the drivers 620 can include display drivers, camera drivers, BLUETOOTH® or BLUETOOTH® Low Energy drivers, flash memory drivers, serial communication drivers (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) drivers), WI-FI® drivers, audio drivers, power management drivers, and so forth.
In some embodiments, the libraries 606 provide a low-level common infrastructure utilized by the applications 610. The libraries 606 can include system libraries 622 (e.g., C standard library) that can provide functions such as memory allocation functions, string manipulation functions, mathematic functions, and the like. In addition, the libraries 606 can include API libraries 624 such as media libraries (e.g., libraries to support presentation and manipulation of various media formats such as Moving Picture Experts Group-4 (MPEG4), Advanced Video Coding (H.264 or AVC), Moving Picture Experts Group Layer-3 (MP3), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR) audio codec, Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG or JPG), or Portable Network Graphics (PNG)), graphics libraries (e.g., an OpenGL framework used to render in two dimensions (2D) and three dimensions (3D) in a graphic content on a display), database libraries (e.g., SQLite to provide various relational database functions), web libraries (e.g., WebKit to provide web browsing functionality), and the like. The libraries 606 can also include a wide variety of other libraries 626 to provide many other APIs to the applications 610.
The frameworks 608 provide a high-level common infrastructure that can be utilized by the applications 610, according to some embodiments. For example, the frameworks 608 provide various graphical user interface (GUI) functions, high-level resource management, high-level location services, and so forth. The frameworks 608 can provide a broad spectrum of other APIs that can be utilized by the applications 610, some of which may be specific to a particular operating system or platform.
In an embodiment, the applications 610 include built-in applications 628 and a broad assortment of other applications, such as a third-party application 644. The built-in applications 628 may include a home application, a contacts application, a browser application, a book reader application, a location application, a media application, a messaging application, a game application. According to some embodiments, the applications 610 are programs that execute functions defined in the programs. Various programming languages can be employed to create one or more of the applications 610, structured in a variety of manners, such as object-oriented programming languages (e.g., Objective-C, Java, or C++) or procedural programming languages (e.g., C or assembly language). In a specific example, the third-party application 644 (e.g., an application developed using the ANDROID™ or IOS™ software development kit (SDK) by an entity other than the vendor of the particular platform) may be mobile software running on a mobile operating system such as IOS™, ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, or another mobile operating system. In this example, the third-party application 644 can invoke the API calls 612 provided by the operating system 604 to facilitate functionality described herein.
The instructions 706 transform the general, non-programmed machine 700 into a particular machine 700 programmed to carry out the described and illustrated functions in the manner described. In alternative embodiments, the machine 700 operates as a standalone device or may be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine 700 may operate in the capacity of a server machine or a client machine in a server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine 700 may comprise, but not be limited to, a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a set-top box (STB), a PDA, an entertainment media system, a cellular telephone, a smart phone, a mobile device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch), a smart home device (e.g., a smart appliance), other smart devices, a web appliance, a network router, a network switch, a network bridge, or any machine capable of executing the instructions 706, sequentially or otherwise, that specify actions to be taken by the machine 700. Further, while only a single machine 700 is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include a collection of machines 700 that individually or jointly execute the instructions 706 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.
The machine 700 may include processor(s) 646, memory 648, and I/O components 650, which may be configured to communicate with each other such as via a bus 702. In some embodiments, the processor(s) 646 (e.g., a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an ASIC, a Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, a processor 704 and a processor 708 that may execute the instructions 706. The term “processor” is intended to include multi-core processors that may comprise two or more independent processors (sometimes referred to as “cores”) that may execute instructions contemporaneously. Although
The memory 648 may include a main memory 710, a static memory 712, and a storage unit 714, each accessible to the processor(s) 646 such as via the bus 702. The main memory 710, the static memory 712, and storage unit 714 store the instructions 706 embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 706 may also reside, completely or partially, within the main memory 710, within the static memory 712, within the storage unit 714, within at least one of the processor(s) 646 (e.g., within the processor's cache memory), or any suitable combination thereof, during execution thereof by the machine 700.
The I/O components 650 may include a wide variety of components to receive input, provide output, produce output, transmit information, exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. The specific I/O components 650 that are included in a particular machine will depend on the type of machine. For example, portable machines such as mobile phones will likely include a touch input device or other such input mechanisms, while a headless server machine will likely not include such a touch input device. It will be appreciated that the I/O components 650 may include many other components that are not shown in
In some embodiments, the I/O components 650 may include biometric components 722, motion components 724, environmental components 726, or position components 728, among a wide array of other components. For example, the biometric components 722 may include components to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facial expressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measure biosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person (e.g., voice identification, retinal identification, facial identification, fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogram-based identification), and the like. The motion components 724 may include acceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensor components, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth. The environmental components 726 may include, for example, illumination sensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components (e.g., one or more thermometers that detect ambient temperature), humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g., barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphones that detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g., infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensors (e.g., gas detection sensors to detection concentrations of hazardous gases for safety or to measure pollutants in the atmosphere), or other components that may provide indications, measurements, or signals corresponding to a surrounding physical environment. The position components 728 may include location sensor components (e.g., a GPS receiver component), altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters or barometers that detect air pressure from which altitude may be derived), orientation sensor components (e.g., magnetometers), and the like.
Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies. The I/O components 650 may include communication components 730 operable to couple the machine 700 to a network 736 or devices 732 via a coupling 738 and a coupling 734, respectively. For example, the communication components 730 may include a network interface component or another suitable device to interface with the network 736. In further examples, the communication components 730 may include wired communication components, wireless communication components, cellular communication components, Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components to provide communication via other modalities. The devices 732 may be another machine or any of a wide variety of peripheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a USB).
Moreover, the communication components 730 may detect identifiers or include components operable to detect identifiers. For example, the communication components 730 may include Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detection components, optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detect one-dimensional bar codes such as Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code, multi-dimensional bar codes such as Quick Response (QR) code, Aztec code, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code, UCC RSS-2D bar code, and other optical codes), or acoustic detection components (e.g., microphones to identify tagged audio signals). In addition, a variety of information may be derived via the communication components 730, such as location via Internet Protocol (IP) geolocation, location via Wi-Fi® signal triangulation, location via detecting an NFC beacon signal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth.
The various memories (i.e., memory 648, main memory 710, and/or static memory 712) and/or storage unit 714 may store one or more sets of instructions and data structures (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. These instructions (e.g., the instructions 706), when executed by processor(s) 646, cause various operations to implement the disclosed embodiments.
Certain embodiments are described herein as including logic or a number of components, modules, elements, or mechanisms. Such modules can constitute either software modules (e.g., code embodied on a machine-readable medium or in a transmission signal) or hardware modules. A “hardware module” is a tangible unit capable of performing certain operations and can be configured or arranged in a certain physical manner. In various example embodiments, one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone computer system, a client computer system, or a server computer system) or one or more hardware modules of a computer system (e.g., a processor or a group of processors) are configured by software (e.g., an application or application portion) as a hardware module that operates to perform certain operations as described herein.
In various embodiments, a hardware module is implemented mechanically, electronically, or any suitable combination thereof. For example, a hardware module can include dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanently configured to perform certain operations. For example, a hardware module can be a special-purpose processor, such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an ASIC. A hardware module may also include programmable logic or circuitry that is temporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. For example, a hardware module can include software encompassed within a general-purpose processor or other programmable processor. It will be appreciated that the decision to implement a hardware module mechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or in temporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) can be driven by cost and time considerations.
Accordingly, the phrase “module” should be understood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or to perform certain operations described herein. Considering embodiments in which hardware modules are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of the hardware modules need not be configured or instantiated at any one instance in time. For example, where a hardware module comprises a general-purpose processor configured by software to become a special-purpose processor, the general-purpose processor may be configured as respectively different special-purpose processors (e.g., comprising different hardware modules) at different times. Software can accordingly configure a particular processor or processors, for example, to constitute a particular hardware module at one instance of time and to constitute a different hardware module at a different instance of time.
Hardware modules can provide information to, and receive information from, other hardware modules. Accordingly, the described hardware modules can be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Where multiple hardware modules exist contemporaneously, communications can be achieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuits and buses) between or among two or more of the hardware modules. In embodiments in which multiple hardware modules are configured or instantiated at different times, communications between or among such hardware modules may be achieved, for example, through the storage and retrieval of information in memory structures to which the multiple hardware modules have access. For example, one hardware module performs an operation and stores the output of that operation in a memory device to which it is communicatively coupled. A further hardware module can then, at a later time, access the memory device to retrieve and process the stored output. Hardware modules can also initiate communications with input or output devices, and can operate on a resource (e.g., a collection of information).
The various operations of example methods described herein can be performed, at least partially, by one or more processors that are temporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured to perform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanently configured, such processors constitute processor-implemented modules that operate to perform one or more operations or functions described herein. As used herein, “processor-implemented module” refers to a hardware module implemented using one or more processors.
Similarly, the methods described herein can be at least partially processor-implemented, with a particular processor or processors being an example of hardware. For example, at least some of the operations of a method can be performed by one or more processors or processor-implemented modules. Moreover, the one or more processors may also operate to support performance of the relevant operations in a “cloud computing” environment or as a “software as a service” (SaaS). For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a group of computers, with these operations being accessible via a network (e.g., the Internet) and via one or more appropriate interfaces (e.g., an API). In certain embodiments, for example, a client device may relay or operate in communication with cloud computing systems, and may access circuit design information in a cloud environment.
The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed among the processors, not only residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments, the processors or processor-implemented modules are located in a single geographic location (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other example embodiments, the processors or processor-implemented modules are distributed across a number of geographic locations.
As used herein, the terms “machine-storage medium,” “device-storage medium,” “computer-storage medium” mean the same thing and may be used interchangeably in this disclosure. The terms refer to a single or multiple storage devices and/or media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store executable instructions and/or data. The terms shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media, including memory internal or external to processors. Specific examples of machine-storage media, computer-storage media and/or device-storage media include non-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), FPGA, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The terms “machine-storage media,” “computer-storage media,” and “device-storage media” specifically exclude carrier waves, modulated data signals, and other such media, at least some of which are covered under the term “signal medium” discussed below.
In some embodiments, one or more portions of the network 736 may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a VPN, a LAN, a WLAN, a WAN, a WWAN, a MAN, the Internet, a portion of the Internet, a portion of the PSTN, a plain old telephone service (POTS) network, a cellular telephone network, a wireless network, a Wi-Fi® network, another type of network, or a combination of two or more such networks. For example, the network 736 or a portion of the network 736 may include a wireless or cellular network, and the coupling 738 may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) connection, or another type of cellular or wireless coupling. In this example, the coupling 738 may implement any of a variety of types of data transfer technology, such as Single Carrier Radio Transmission Technology (1×RTT), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology, Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology, third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourth generation wireless (4G) networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, others defined by various standard-setting organizations, other long range protocols, or other data transfer technology.
The instructions 706 may be transmitted or received over the network 736 using a transmission medium via a network interface device (e.g., a network interface component included in the communication components 730) and utilizing any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols (e.g., hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)). Similarly, the instructions 706 may be transmitted or received using a transmission medium via the coupling 734 (e.g., a peer-to-peer coupling) to the devices 732. The terms “non-transitory computer-readable storage medium,” “transmission medium” and “signal medium” mean the same thing and may be used interchangeably in this disclosure. The terms “transmission medium” and “signal medium” shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying the instructions 706 for execution by the machine 700, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible media to facilitate communication of such software. Hence, the terms “transmission medium” and “signal medium” shall be taken to include any form of modulated data signal, carrier wave, and so forth. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a matter as to encode information in the signal.
The terms “machine-readable medium,” “non-transitory computer-readable medium” and “device-readable medium” mean the same thing and may be used interchangeably in this disclosure. The terms are defined to include both machine-storage media and transmission media. Thus, the terms include both storage devices/media and carrier waves/modulated data signals.
Although examples have been described with reference to some embodiments or methods, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader scope of the embodiments. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, show by way of illustration, and not of limitation, specific embodiments in which the subject matter may be practiced. The embodiments illustrated are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed herein. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of various embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred to herein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any single invention or inventive concept if more than one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description.
“CARRIER SIGNAL” in this context refers to any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by the machine 700, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible medium to facilitate communication of such instructions 706. Instructions 706 may be transmitted or received over the network 736 using a transmission medium via a network interface device and using any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols.
“CLIENT DEVICE” in this context refers to any machine 700 that interfaces to a communications network 736 to obtain resources from one or more server systems or other client devices 102. A client device 102 may be, but is not limited to, mobile phones, desktop computers, laptops, PDAs, smart phones, tablets, ultra books, netbooks, laptops, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, game consoles, STBs, or any other communication device that a user may use to access a network 632.
“COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK” in this context refers to one or more portions of a network 736 that may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a LAN, a wireless LAN (WLAN), a WAN, a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), the Internet, a portion of the Internet, a portion of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a plain old telephone service (POTS) network, a cellular telephone network, a wireless network, a Wi-Fi® network, another type of network, or a combination of two or more such networks. For example, a network 736 or a portion of a network 736 may include a wireless or cellular network and the coupling may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) connection, or other type of cellular or wireless coupling. In this example, the coupling may implement any of a variety of types of data transfer technology, such as Single Carrier Radio Transmission Technology (1×RTT), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology, Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology, third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourth generation wireless (4G) networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, others defined by various standard setting organizations, other long range protocols, or other data transfer technology.
“MACHINE-READABLE MEDIUM” in this context refers to a component, device, or other tangible media able to store instructions 706 and data temporarily or permanently and may include, but is not be limited to, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), buffer memory, flash memory, optical media, magnetic media, cache memory, other types of storage (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM)), and/or any suitable combination thereof. The term “machine-readable medium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, or associated caches and servers) able to store instructions 706. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any medium, or combination of multiple media, that is capable of storing instructions 706 (e.g., code) for execution by a machine 700, such that the instructions 706, when executed by one or more processors 704 of the machine 700, cause the machine 700 to perform any one or more of the methodologies described herein. Accordingly, a “machine-readable medium” refers to a single storage apparatus or device, as well as “cloud-based” storage systems or storage networks that include multiple storage apparatus or devices. The term “machine-readable medium” excludes signals per se.
“COMPONENT” in this context refers to a device, physical entity, or logic having boundaries defined by function or subroutine calls, branch points, APIs, or other technologies that provide for the partitioning or modularization of particular processing or control functions. Components may be combined via their interfaces with other components to carry out a machine process. A component may be a packaged functional hardware unit designed for use with other components and a part of a program that usually performs a particular function of related functions. Components may constitute either software components (e.g., code embodied on a machine-readable medium) or hardware components. A “hardware component” is a tangible unit capable of performing certain operations and may be configured or arranged in a certain physical manner. In various example embodiments, one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone computer system, a client computer system, or a server computer system) or one or more hardware components of a computer system (e.g., a processor or a group of processors 646) may be configured by software (e.g., an application 610 or application portion) as a hardware component that operates to perform certain operations as described herein. A hardware component may also be implemented mechanically, electronically, or any suitable combination thereof. For example, a hardware component may include dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanently configured to perform certain operations. A hardware component may be a special-purpose processor, such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). A hardware component may also include programmable logic or circuitry that is temporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. For example, a hardware component may include software executed by a general-purpose processor 704 or other programmable processors. Once configured by such software, hardware components become specific machines 700 (or specific components of a machine 700) uniquely tailored to perform the configured functions and are no longer general-purpose processors 704. It will be appreciated that the decision to implement a hardware component mechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or in temporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software), may be driven by cost and time considerations. Accordingly, the phrase “hardware component” (or “hardware-implemented component”) should be understood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or to perform certain operations described herein. Considering embodiments in which hardware components are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of the hardware components need not be configured or instantiated at any one instance in time. For example, where a hardware component comprises a general-purpose processor 704 configured by software to become a special-purpose processor, the general-purpose processor 704 may be configured as respectively different special-purpose processors (e.g., comprising different hardware components) at different times. Software accordingly configures a particular processor or processors 646, for example, to constitute a particular hardware component at one instance of time and to constitute a different hardware component at a different instance of time. Hardware components can provide information to, and receive information from, other hardware components. Accordingly, the described hardware components may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Where multiple hardware components exist contemporaneously, communications may be achieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuits and buses 702) between or among two or more of the hardware components. In embodiments in which multiple hardware components are configured or instantiated at different times, communications between such hardware components may be achieved, for example, through the storage and retrieval of information in memory structures to which the multiple hardware components have access. For example, one hardware component may perform an operation and store the output of that operation in a memory device to which it is communicatively coupled. A further hardware component may then, at a later time, access the memory device to retrieve and process the stored output. Hardware components may also initiate communications with input or output devices, and can operate on a resource (e.g., a collection of information). The various operations of example methods described herein may be performed, at least partially, by one or more processors 646 that are temporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured to perform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanently configured, such processors 646 may constitute processor-implemented components that operate to perform one or more operations or functions described herein. As used herein, “processor-implemented component” refers to a hardware component implemented using one or more processors 646. Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partially processor-implemented, with a particular processor or processors 646 being an example of hardware. For example, at least some of the operations of a method may be performed by one or more processors 646 or processor-implemented components. Moreover, the one or more processors 646 may also operate to support performance of the relevant operations in a “cloud computing” environment or as a “software as a service” (SaaS). For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a group of computers (as examples of machines 700 including processors 646), with these operations being accessible via a network 736 (e.g., the Internet) and via one or more appropriate interfaces (e.g., an API). The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed among the processors 646, not only residing within a single machine 700, but deployed across a number of machines 700. In some example embodiments, the processors 646 or processor-implemented components may be located in a single geographic location (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other example embodiments, the processors 646 or processor-implemented components may be distributed across a number of geographic locations.
“PROCESSOR” in this context refers to any circuit or virtual circuit (a physical circuit emulated by logic executing on an actual processor 704) that manipulates data values according to control signals (e.g., “commands,” “op codes,” “machine code,” etc.) and which produces corresponding output signals that are applied to operate a machine 700. A processor 704 may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) or any combination thereof. A processor 704 may further be a multi-core processor having two or more independent processors 646 (sometimes referred to as “cores”) that may execute instructions 706 contemporaneously.
